GRANVILLE, Ohio (March 13, 2024) – The Denison University softball team played on its new turf field for the first time, but unfortunately, the Big Red came up short in both games against Muskingum University as they fell 8-0 in five innings in game one and then were unable to hold onto a seventh-inning lead in a 6-2 defeat in game two.
 
Game 1 (Denison 0, Muskingum 8):

• A leadoff single up the middle in the top of the first inning for Muskingum led to an unearned run to put the visitors on the board first after an error at shortstop extended the inning. Brooke Surbaugh (1-2), however, got a swinging strikeout to strand the bases loaded in the top of the first.
• Muskingum's Madelyn Thomas (4-1), meanwhile, got three straight swinging strikeouts in the bottom of the first inning and kept the Big Red off the base paths until a leadoff walk by Alessandra Groome in the bottom of the third.
• Thomas also kept Denison to without a hit until a one-out single up the middle by Emerson Seevers in the bottom of the fourth.
• The score remained 1-0 until a huge six-hit, seven-run top of the fifth inning ending with a two-run home run to center field by Elizabeth Wauford made it 8-0 Muskingum. It was the first home run of the season for the Muskies 11 games into their season.
• Thomas entered the game with a 3-1 record featuring four complete games, a 0.74 earned run average and 26 strikeouts across 28.1 innings, and she improved upon those numbers with five innings pitched allowing two hits and one walk to go along with eight strikeouts and a shutout against the Big Red.

 
Game 2 (Denison 2, Muskingum 6):

• Denison was sent down 1-2-3 by Bethany Rodman in each of the first three innings while Muskingum left a runner in scoring position in each of the first two innings against Sydney Silverstein (1-1).
• In the top of the fourth inning, Groome made a run-saving catch at the wall in left field to prevent the first run of the game as the Muskies left their third runner in scoring position in the first four innings.
• The first hit of the game for the Big Red was a two-out knock up the middle by Annabelle Calderon in the bottom of the fourth.
• Then after Muskingum left another runner in scoring position in the fifth inning, a diving catch in the right center field gap by the Muskie's center fielder, Cara Taylor, robbed Groome of extra bases in the bottom half.
• With runners at the corners with two outs in the top of the sixth, Silverstein got a pop out to Leilah Ferrari at short to strand two runners on base for the third inning in a row for Muskingum.
• In the bottom of the sixth, Jordyn Maurer singled through the middle with one out for what was just Denison's second hit of the game, and then Denison's leadoff hitter, Indy Workman, laced a double to right center field as Maurer raced all the way home from first and beat the throw to make it 1-0 Big Red. Ferrari followed Workman's hit with a singe to left field to score Workman and make it 2-0.
• The Fighting Muskies, however, lived up to their name in the seventh inning as they proceeded to put two runners on after a single and a hit by pitch, both with one out, and then an E6 loaded the bases and moved the tying run into scoring position at second base.
• Against Silverstein, a bloop single to center field brought in one run to make it 2-1, and then Giavanna Gangi came in to pitch but walked in the tying run.
• That was followed by an RBI-single to left field by Morgan Layne to put the Muskies in front 3-2, and then Wauford, who had the big hit with a home run in game one, cleared the bases with a standup double to right center field.
• In all, Muskingum sent 10 batters to the plate in the seventh inning and finished with six runs on four hits.
• The Big Red then proceeded to go down 1-2-3 in the bottom of the seventh.

 
Records:

• Denison fell to 2-4 on the season while Muskingum improved to 9-3.

 
Next Up: Denison will head to Winchester, Virginia, to play Shenandoah University for the first time. The doubleheader is scheduled to start at 1 p.m. on Saturday, March 16.